The human heart serves as a four chambered double pump. For separate valves control the passage of blood between these chambers. When functioning properly, these natural valves operate as one way mechanisms that allow blood to flow in only one direction there through. When one of these valves operates defectively, serious health concerns arise. Often the defective valve must be replaced with a prosthetic device.
Artificial heart valves are utilized for the above purpose. Typically, such valves include a circular orifice and a flow regulating device such as a ball or disk that may be used to occlude the orifice passageway. Such implanted heart valves must withstand a number of stressful conditions and are otherwise subject to an unfavorable environment for artifacts. For instance, large static and dynamic inertias are evident as the heart pumps blood. Furthermore, a significant hemodynamic pressure gradient may be built up across the valve location. Heart valves are also subject to localized wear and breakdown, and can contribute to the creation of stagnation areas where clotting may occur.
Ideally, an artificial heart valve provides minimal opposition to the desired flow of blood and additionally encourages a centralized flow through the valve. Heart valves that make use of free floating, rotatable, pivotable disk occluders seem to meet these criteria best. Nevertheless, prior art devices that make use of such disk occluders still have not insignificant problems in accomodating the hemodynamic pressure gradient and in minimizing the creation of stagnation areas. Further, such disk occluders have not been as successful in encouraging a centralized flow of blood as might be otherwise desired.